A little more than three months ago, the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens spent a couple sweltering August days on the NovaCare Complex fields for a series of joint practices ahead of their preseason game.

The Eagles were seen as potential Super Bowl contenders with a healthy Carson Wentz, new pieces on offense and the return of some top defensive players. The Ravens were curiosities entering Lamar Jackson’s second year. Both teams appeared to be on upward trajectories. But only one has delivered. And it’s not the one that was a trendy Super Bowl pick.

After their 45-6 demolition of the Los Angeles Rams on “Monday Night Football,” the Ravens are 9-2 and a Super Bowl contender. Lamar Jackson leads the MVP race. Baltimore is a dangerous team. The Eagles, meanwhile, are floundering. They’re 5-6, and while they’re only a game out of first place in the NFC East, it is hard to be optimistic about an offense that has sputtered of late.

Eagles beat writer Daniel Gallen and Ravens beat writer Aaron Kasinitz exchanged some emails this week to figure out what they might have missed back in August, what has gone right and what has gone wrong for both teams over the past three months.

I think the easiest place to start is with the Ravens. How did we miss this? Or how did I miss this? I’ve been plumbing the depths of my brain to think about those practices in South Philly back in August, and other than the heat, I can’t think of too much that stood out about Baltimore. At least, nothing pops out that could have foretold this kind of season.

I was impressed by the tight end group — remember that Charles Scarff-to-the-Eagles movement? — but I think the one player I was taken with the most was rookie wide receiver Miles Boykin, and he hasn’t even done anything this season (11 catches, 185 yards, two touchdowns). I thought the defense would be solid, given the secondary and some of the talent on the line, and I thought it would be reasonable to expect Jackson to take another step forward.

But all of this is kind of ridiculous. What do you remember about that week? Is there anything buried in there that could offer why the Ravens are playing this well? And how did I miss seeing this coming?

Yeah, I don’t think we can be too hard on ourselves for failing to envision the Ravens’ ascent to Super Bowl contention and Lamar Jackson’s surge to the front of the MVP race. Liars, blurry-eyed Ravens diehards and physics might say they saw this coming. The rest of us? We can’t help but feel at least a little surprised.

I will point out two things, though...

1) From the start of training camp, Baltimore was one of the NFL’s most difficult teams to peg. Jackson’s development and the coaching staff’s intention to build a unique offense around him made it seem like the Ravens could finish 12-4 or 4-12 or just about anywhere in the middle.

2) What the Ravens are best at — running the ball down the throat of an opposing defense — doesn’t really show up in August practices.

When the Eagles and Ravens took part in team drills, most of the play calls were passes. Tackling was prohibited and defenses weren't allowed to get close to hitting an opposing quarterback, so even when Baltimore ran the ball, we didn’t get a chance to see how well the plays would work out in a live game setting.

Sure, Jackson threw the ball pretty well in Philly and throughout the summer. Maybe that should’ve given us a clue that a breakout season was in store. But at the heart of the Ravens’ stunning success this season rests the best and most diverse rushing attack the NFL has seen in decades. And it was somewhat hidden on those NovaCare Complex practice fields in August.

On a similar note, it seemed difficult to identify some of the Eagles’ flaws back then, too…

Daniel: That is true about the practice setting in August. The coaches and players talked up how it was good to be out in a physical environment to hit a player from another team, but it still wasn’t *exactly* the same. Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram weren’t exactly barreling through the trenches during those practices.

The Eagles have revealed their flaws little by little over the course of the season. First, their was health, with DeSean Jackson going out early, Fletcher Cox playing himself into shape and then the recent rash of injuries to Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Jordan Howard, Darren Sproles and Lane Johnson.

But the larger flaw has been the inability to respond to the injuries from a personnel and coaching standpoint. Jackson hasn’t played 16 games in a season since 2013, so the team knew he would miss at least some time. There wasn’t a reliable backup plan ready. And with the injuries to Jeffery, Howard and Sproles, the Eagles turned to Jordan Matthews and Jay Ajayi for repeat stints in Philadelphia. It doesn’t seem like there has been much creativity, both in roster construction and play-calling.

It’s left Carson Wentz in some tough situations. Reading back through my practice observations from August, it looks like he got a good challenge against the Ravens secondary, and both sides had their fair share of wins. But Wentz hasn’t looked decisive or confident the past two weeks and has made some uncharacteristic mistakes.

I didn’t see these kinds of performances coming from the quarterback. You had plenty of experience watching him and were here for the highs of 2017. What do you make of the quarterback play? That’s been the obvious story for both teams.

Aaron: Yeah, as they so often do in the NFL, quarterbacks sit at the center of the conversation for both the Ravens and the Eagles. And the team’s divergent paths speak to the importance of how a team builds around its QB.

Back when I was covering the Eagles in 2017, Philly created a great situation for Wentz. At their best that season, the Birds had two starting-caliber running backs, a receiving corps that meshed well and a Pro Bowler at tight end in Zach Ertz.

That team didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher or receiver, but it was loaded with talented skill-position players who complemented Wentz. Philadelphia’s offensive line and play calling were impressive, too.

The next offseason, Wentz lost his offensive coordinator (Frank Reich) and quarterbacks coach (John DeFilippo), and his supporting cast has lacked stability the past two years. That’s not to absolve Wentz of blame for his middling play this year — he needs to be better, and we certainly expected better from him when we watched practice over the summer.

But the structure around Wentz has deteriorated to some degree this year, and he’s struggling to hold it together.

In Baltimore, the Ravens built an entire playbook around Jackson’s unique skillset and surrounded the 22-year-old with players who accentuate his talents. Just as Wentz deserves criticism, Jackson has earned his right to immense praise. Even so, it’s the environment around him that stands out when you compare the Ravens to the Eagles.

Both head coaches, John Harbaugh and Doug Pederson, have won Super Bowls. They’ve proven themselves as effective leaders and builders and strategists. This season, Harbaugh’s staff is the one pushing the right buttons.

Daniel: So how do you see things shaking out? I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on the Ravens. Jackson has to have a bad game, right? Someone has to figure out some way to play defense that contains the run game, right? We’ve seen some teams figure out how to contain the Chiefs. It happened to Chip Kelly in Philadelphia.

The 49ers and Bills are two solid defenses that should be interesting to watch from a scheme — and talent — perspective against the Ravens. I like the San Francisco defensive line a lot, but I also liked what the Rams had up front, too. We saw how that worked out.

As for the Eagles, the schedule sets up nicely with the Dolphins, Giants (twice) and Washington left on the schedule, plus a game against the Cowboys in Week 16 that should decide the NFC East. Maybe I’m still blinded by the optimism from August or how Wentz, Pederson and the rest performed in 2017 to still think the Eagles have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs and make some noise.

There’s an expectation, earned or not, that everything will fall into place. And it gets harder and harder to believe that will actually happen as each week goes by. This team doesn’t seem good.

On the other hand, it’s hard to see the Ravens getting derailed. The Patriots and Rams seemed like two of the best chances for that to happen. The 49ers should be another fun test.

Aaron: Well, if the journey from joint practices to Week 13 has taught us anything, it’s to expected twists and turns and surprises. I don’t know how a defense can stop Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ unique offense — Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Wade Phillips all failed to do so recently — but this is the NFL and I don’t foresee Baltimore extending its winning streak to 15 games and waltzing to a Super Bowl title without resistance.

Something has to give. Maybe Jackson slips up or a defense concots a game plan to knock him out of his rhythm. Maybe bad weather in Foxborough or Buffalo or Baltimore trips him up.

Or maybe the surprise is that the Ravens continue dominating in a manner the league hasn’t seen. It’ll be fun to watch it all unfold. Baltimore plays the 49ers and Bills the next two weeks and will face two of the best defenses in the NFL — if they earn two more blowout wins, it’d be hard not to peg the Ravens as heavy Super Bowl favorites.

As for the Eagles, the schedule is so soft that you can’t count them out of the NFC East race, and once a team makes the playoffs, anything is possible. Philly’s defense is playing well. Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson are searching for answers, and if they find them, the Birds might put together a run.

Will they be able to shake off their struggles? Can they beat the Cowboys in Philly on Dec. 22, a game they might have to win to reach the playoffs?

It beats me. At this moment, I don’t know how Wentz or Pederson could feel confident, either.